<< Have you or has anyone else mentioned the separation of the water,
below and above the firmament? I have yet to see a literalistic
interpretation of this that does anything other than beg the question. >>

Try my paper, Paul H. Seely, "The firmament and the water above, Part II: The
Meaning of 'The Water above the Firmament" in Gen 1:6-8," Westminster
Theological Journal 54 (1992) 31-46 (Part 1 is "The firmament and the water
above, Part I: The Meaning of raqia' in Gen 1:6-8," Westminster Theological
Journal 53 (1991) 227-240)